New Album - Earth Is An Island!

THANK YOU for your incredible support all these years, keeping me inspired and energized with your generosity, and for allowing me all the time and space it takes for new songs to be born, recorded, and shared.

I am so grateful for music in my life. For the people that music has brought into my life, for the stories, the daily awe. I'm so happy to be wandering this path, and I thank you so much for continuing to listen to and love and share this music. You are an essential part of my team, getting the songs out to friends, inviting those around you to listen, and I am so inspired by your commitment and enthusiasm. Thank you.

The new album - Earth Is An Island
EARTH IS AN ISLAND by Ryan Dilmore

2011 has been a remarkable year! Writing songs with great friends in California, composed and recorded my first film score over the summer, have a couple of my songs in some brilliant films coming soon, all while diving deeper into the unknown - living, growing, learning to Be Love and give all the music and light I can. And I am so excited for what 2012 will bring, and what I can bring to it. Thank you for being such an amazing sidekick in my journey - so much more awesomeness to come!

Happy new year, friends.

Lots of love,
Ryan

She Sorts Teacher T-Shirts by the Tea Store

It's never a bad time to realize how unbelievably awesome you were, will be, and most certainly are.
Amazing what you can teach yourself. What you can learn from your past. What you can offer right now to the future You.

I admit I've been wearing myself down about the state of my tired voice this week. Kickin myself a little bit, thinking I must not be treating my singing instrument with the love and care it so deserves. Tonight I stumbled upon old songs I'd recorded, my chronology of bedroom-born music thus far, and I believe I just got my first voice lesson with me. I went out in the garage (what, it's the middle of the night! people are asleep here) and replicated what I'd heard under-21 Ryan doing with his voice. Lo and behold - I experienced my Now self flowing with the ease and au naturel-ness of my younger and more vulnerable years. Like removing that old sock you didn't realize was hidden inside your trumpet.

I'm sending on vacation the restrictive little part of my brain that's always trying to think too much when I'm singing, playing, or writing.

It's never too late to re-learn.
It's never too foolish to trust yourself.
Never too soon to quit checking the internet for clues and start checking in with my gut instead.
Thank you, New York, for your nurturing reminders.
For returning me to heart center.
I'm a beginner.
And I'm too in love to sleep.

It's All In Your Mirrormagination

I don't know how it's taken me so long to discover this, but life just got infinitely more magical (hard to believe!). Moving "stuff" out of the old and into the new, I re-discovered my view of everything. Carrying this mirror from apartment to car, I watched the road become the sky, and the past and future merge into Right Here. In motion. It's having eyes in the back of your head, projected in front of you. In childlike wonderment, I took a break from packing to explore this new realm, turning that same familiar parking area into an Inception-worthy perspective.

How easy it is to bend streets, re-draw, re-see the world around us! I'm probably last on the bandwagon for mirror walking, but it's new for me. Boredom has never seemed more obsolete.

Gonna go reflect some spectrum for a bit.
Bring your mirror and we'll make infinity together.

ryan.dilmore

Love

/// Three EPs

On my journey towards creating a studio album, crafting and connecting the sounds and feelings of my pinhole view of life, a number of songs have flooded through. Many of these songs came in the form of a single line or a few words, and I am practicing being light and openness for these simple beginnings to grow. I am beyond grateful for the infinite love, encouragement, and support of all kinds that continually excite me to give my whole self to this awesome awesome (awesome) life.


Thank you


I want to share with you these seedlings of songs sprouting up through the surface, so here's what happenin - I'm going to put together and release 3 EPs over the next 3-6 months, to keep you connected to whatever is currently flowing through me. So send out all your best creative energy and give hugs to strangers and dance the way you want to dance, and I guarantee that goodness will funnel its way into the stream of these songs - We're all in this together!


EP 1 - Earth Is An Island - (Coming Soon)


EP 2 - We Are What We Give


EP 3 - The Heart Of Who We Are


(EP titles and order of release are subject to change spontaneously and awesomely)

To Be or Not To Be

So grateful for the many Yodas in my life.


For the steady reminders 
to choose this moment, every time.


For the infinite opportunities 
to re-connect, 
to re-commit, 
to Be.
Love.

I Feel Happy of Myself

If you believe in yourself,
you will know how to wide a bike.

Thumbs up everybody,

ryan

Not Sleeping For A While? Grab Some Scissors.

Well, here I am again, way too late into a wednesday night, making sonic arts and crafts.
Since I was unable to drift off into dreams when I laid down to sleep, I figured I'd post this little snippet as a way to convey the trippy nature of my post-midnight-hour wandering mind.

  Ask by rdilmore

Don't worry, Future Me, no one's going to judge you for spilling a sort-of-psychedelic spoken-word collage-song onto this otherwise pristine blog. "That's what smocks are forrr," as Dionne Warwick and friends would sing.

...oh man.

Beauty, Movement II: Some Eyes See

Some eyes see a tree and know it's a tree.

Some eyes see a tree and know it's the answer.
Some eyes don't see it.

Some eyes see the branches dancing.
Some eyes see all sails are full.
Some eyes see the wind.

Some eyes see a book and know it's a book.
Some eyes see a book and know it's a tree.
Some eyes see something else entirely.

Some eyes I've met.
Some eyes I've yet to meet.
Sometimes I fantasize what only
your eyes might foresee.

Still awake. Must I call this sleeplessness? Is there some spin I can whirl within this word, to turn it into something beautiful to me? To be honest, I feel rather fortunate to experience what I do when bedtime hours pass. It's as though my fingers simply move. Music simply plays. Words simply appear. Nothing tries to be anything, everything simply is.

I've been thinking a lot about the world we choose to see. The Me I choose to Be. The You you choose to Be. I love that some people see the Hollywood sign up close and feel total awe and wild excitement, while others step forward and say "... that's it?" I love that some people hear a song and it becomes their mantra, their senior quote, their first dance. Other people hear that same song, go straight to youtube, and state their appalling reaction unashamedly loud and clear.

It opens my eyes to the idea that it's never actually the thing, the song, even the person, providing the love (or lack thereof), it actually is some force in us. When the cliches are stripped away, and my mind lets go of the idea that "oh, we've heard all that before", it's awesome to be re-minded that We Are the Keepers of Our Fire. And all things are oxygen if we choose them to be. I like to picture myself as one who sees the oxygen in everything. That even seemingly bad things -- who am I to judge -- are here to grow my.your.our fire

Today, when I wake up after sleeping in, I choose to see all things as beautiful. I mean, let's face it, they already are (astoundingly so) with or without my acknowledgement. But I believe there's power and magic in linking arms with the way things are. Infinite. Immaculate. Miraculous. (Truly)

I am grateful to find that sleeplessness is really just sisters with awesomeness (and together they throw one heck of a dance party). I'm excited to wake up to the beautiful world I choose.

After all!,
Beauty Is In the Eye of the Bee Holder

One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Canvas

I choose to see you today 

to remind you how absurdly beautiful you are.
R

Beauty, Movement I: This Won't BE Fascinating (at all) Come Sunrise

Moments ago 

Unable to fall asleep 

I began (in the true spirit of sleep-deprivation) contemplating the word Beauty

BE - auty

What other words are home to the partner letters BE, I wondered aloud (silently).

Then entered, LiBErty

Discovery! Wow, it seems that words containing BE seem to frequently end in -ty! 

This momentary game-changer in modern literary science was quickly put to rest when out plopped:

BEnevolence instantly followed by BEan Casserole

...Crap.

Another sham hypothesis. Linguistic fictitiousness.

I realize now, perhaps I should have ignored those brainwaves when they so convincingly advised, 

Yeah, go ahead, Ry. Publish this. 

Blogging on sleeplessness 

is the new drunk texting. 

Oops

Thank You For Making Us

We all have One thing in common -
every mail man
every waitress
every saxophone player
every movie critic
every friend we've ever had
every passerby
every slow dance partner
every truck driver
every democrat & republican
every lemonade salesman
everyone who likes _____ & everyone who doesn't
every lover
every fighter
every person sleeping in a home or hotel suite
every person sleeping on the sidewalk or church steps
everyone we choose sides with
everyone we resist
everything we celebrate
everything we abominate
every kid
every great grandparent
every seed, every tree, every forest
every lightning bolt, every breeze
every chicken
every egg
you
me

We Are Here
thanks to Mothers

Today I am acknowledging the makers of all things.
Not one single plant, animal, or band member of Creed would be here if not for moms.
Our own Moms. And, of course, Mama Nature. Mama Universe. Mama Casio

To embrace our non-separateness, lately I've been practicing an awesome game I like to call
"There Goes My Brother"

The game (for 1 to 1 quadrillion players) began when I was wandering the neighborhood a few weeks ago. I noticed that I felt no connection to the cars slowly passing through stop signs or waiting for me to cross so they could make their turn. I suddenly was struck with visions of my siblings (who I miss, living across the continent) and I realized, hey ... what if the person driving that car were my brother or my sister? How present would I be as they drive off to wherever they needed to go? How would my mind feel? How would my smile feel?

So now every car that passes is my brother. My sister. My friend. The Best Part - something that started off as sort of pretending connection to these travelers caused a real transformation. My lungs, my attitude, the gravitational pull between my heart and the driver's seat, now give every indication that we are actually connecting. I turn my head in the direction of their tail lights, smiling, silently bidding bon voyage. As if I'm conjuring up a loving wind for their sails, to have their back whatever course they choose. There goes my brother

It's so simple to give Love. So monumentally rewarding for ALL.
"As you serve others, you serve yourself.
As you serve your Self, All are rewarded."

My parents are the Queen & King of unconditional Love. Just ask everyone. To give simply for the chance, the choice, to BE Generosity. From the day I chose to act on the thought, "I'm ready to open my eyes and breathe and meet my hilarious older siblings," my whole family has shown up as this unstoppable force of pure, awesome, Love. I Am unspeakably grateful to have been born of your tribe. Truly. And to realize more and more every single day that Our tribe is in fact infinitely bigger than a family of five.
It is Everyone, Everything
Everything I see
Everything I don't see

Today I'm hugging all the trees, kissing the face of our planet, thanking the universe for ALL my sisters and brothers, praising the mothers who made us so.

Peace Begins With A Smile
Life Begins With A Mom

LOVE

In celebration, I invite you to share a newly revisited song of mine called
Movement of This Moment
A musical testament to My/Your/A/The/Our Mother

R.

The Start Of Something Good

I love dusting off early demos of songs, like this homemade garageband demo I recorded of "Anastasia" the moment she swirled into my stream of consciousness years ago.

Listen Here   

There are so many musical seeds being planted! Sometimes I do get impatient, wondering if enough water is being irrigated into the sonic garden. (But it's always been quality over quantity, right! Note: One sip of water that's given my fullest attention and greatest intention, seems to nourish more than water carelessly tossed back in a tall glass.) I'm always reminded that even songs are lives of their own, and all that they require from me is Love and trust. So that's what I'm practicing, that's what I'm giving. And I'm excited to turn around years from now when they're fully grown and share with you what this music sounded like prior to germination. 

I think it's pretty wild to see what evolves from seeds:

ryan

Try Not To Laugh

Laughter is the best medicine

(when taken in humongous doses)

It's really excruciating on my stomach, having the funniest siblings and friends on the face of the earth. My brother came by tonight. We laughed so hard, my insides relocated to higher ground. It's as though gravity got reversed, causing my stomach to launch into my throat. I now understand the true meaning behind "Laugh It Up", literally.


When we were little, we created a legendary game played mostly in backseats of long car rides and during hours when everyone else tried to sleep. We called it Try Not To Laugh. We could say or sing or contort our faces into previously unimaginable shapes, with the sole intention of making the other person laugh out loud. Only rules were you couldn't come in contact with the other player & the listener couldn't look away from the laugh-inducer. 


Your turn! 
Try not to laugh at this...

Sometimes I forget how hilarious we are. 

Sometimes I remember we're the only ones who think we're this funny.

All I know is, despite the chest pain and the neglected possibility of embarrassment, laughing this hard reconnects my heart to some ageless infinity within me. 

Let's grow young together.
ryan dilmore

C.R.O.P.S.

Starry Nites

New York

photo by arian david photography

After the man-made windstorm in my windpipe friday night, I'm grateful to play farmer to my self-sustaining inner garden — growing my voice from the ground up. 


Hello Lady Water and inner Mr Sun! 
 
I'm so lucky to have lived among such seasoned and generous peace-propegators all my life, stopping by for an afternoon or for a lifetime to trade advice on making the most of our intangible landscapes, to shine some steady light, or to simply lend a smile to the seeds we're all planting. 

photo by h c dilmore

Love is my all-time favorite superfood.
 
so fresh and delicious
I'll never get sick of this
r y a n  t h r i l l m o r e

 ( visible Love at a ryan dilmore show )

photo by kendra fee

We Are Here, We Are Here, We Are Here!

"Where you from?"

This question has been offered my way with noticeable frequency over the past few days. Outdoor smooth jazz event ushers, music legends, my banker, and as of ten minutes ago, Netflix. Enough to grab my attention, to get me thinking and, ultimately, thanking.

T h e  P o w e r  O f  P o s i t i v e  T h a n k i n g:

How Amy From Chicago Made My Day

Or, The Story's In Our Hands After All

Or, Double Rainbow Oh My God!

If we've snoozed in the same zip code this month, you've probably heard me rustling all hours of the night, unable to lock into a steady sleep cycle. From not eating before bed, to eating sleep-inducing foods before bed, to reading, listening to music, breathing exercises, burping out both ends, stretching, quieting my mind, counting sheep, to counting thanks - I'm determined to renew my annual membership to dreamland.

Tonight I finally realized the perfect solution.
A nature documentary.

What's more soothing than families of beautiful wildlife set to the natural tune of James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman. If anything could slowly ease my mind into a peaceful slumber, it would surely be this. Disney's Oceans had deep sleeper written all over it. My eyes were closed, waves lapped the shore, the whales were singing their song, Pierce Brosnan assured me that it was more than acceptable to drift off into dreamy seclusion ... I really almost made it there a couple times. The film audio played out as the most epic and colorful book-on-tape known to man. Soothing as it was, I couldn't help but awaken to the closing dialogue, reminding me of this place where not only I live, but where we all come from.

I want my future grandkids to know the life that exists in the world. I want them to be proud that we got our act together, boldly affirming that we have mother nature's back as we do for our own sisters and brothers. I have a lot more listening and responding to do. Whether it be an ex-James Bond, a quiet semi-californian I meet on my way through a new town, or some underwater living being, I hear how every voice is making the call: "I am here, too."

I know that nighttime hasn't been keeping me awake in vain.
I love that we're here. And tonight I'm grateful for the inspiration to be here, better.

Ryan

( the view from where I got to say "I Am Here" last weekend )

Old / News

Today is a great great day!

So thrilled I finally got to enjoy the new Cafe Gratitude in LA last night. I Am Transformed. For dessert, the Makepeace Brothers cd release show at Hotel Cafe. Another awesome night of dance moves, sing-alongs, and shining within the electric current of so many brilliant souls. So grateful to the people who empower, improve, and elevate the lives of everyone around them.
I feel you.

On the topic of existential enhancement, my cells are ecstatic to utilize some badass new gifts from hearts I greatly admire:

Old juicer...

... New juicer!

Old microphone...

... New microphone!

Thanks to my incredibly generous siblings

for upgrading my already sweet life

to a whole new level of truly awesome.

Enjoy the best weekend you've ever had.

Starting... 

Now

Smelt It. Dealt It.

I admit,
I give some pretty good birthday cards.

Bumping Elbows With My Future

Tonight has been the best night ever. Dancing side by side with my mentors, my future and present-tense friends, my energy boosters and music growers. I got to sing with a roomful of voices, all putting our brains aside to simply let joy flow in and out and through everything. Tonight is proof that sometimes I prefer my meditation loud enough to dance to. It's truly amazing to visibly watch the sound of music take full control of our hips and legs and skyward hands. We are so lucky to be in such close proximity with anything-is-possibility.

Even more incredible is the way Life keeps showing up day after day with surprising twists in my never-dusty tale. I've been having so many detailed dreams of friends and close conversations lately, and so many waking-hour encounters of such surreality, that I honestly don't care which one is the dream. I'm hooked into my own personal Magic Eye whenever my lids are closed and anytime they're open. If you're reading this awake or if you're dreaming this as well, let me remind you how much love and infinite thanks I hold for the greatness that you are. Truly.

My Dream Would Suck Without You

So many hearts before mine have learned and shared that
all you need is love 
the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return
intense love does not measure, it just gives

Love. One of the most remarkable things I can think of in my life is the power of learning something I "already know" for the first time (again). Tonight my new/old lesson lay in the lines of a song by my new friend Parker Ainsworth:

I only wish to leave one thing behind
only love

That's everything. Thank you to my future and present friends for your reminders, your willingness to befriend a stranger, your unmatched dance moves, and your unconditional love. And so many birthdays celebrated tonight! I feel so lucky, so thankful, so amazed to be alive during the same years as so many unbelievable people (and Penny Lane the puppy).

It'd be nice if I had pictures of the dancing and singing and salutations that came to light this evening to share with you. Just believe me that I am having a blast with this extraordinary life and I sure hope you are too.

That's the way, my friends, to completely forget you stepped in dog shit when you first got to the party.


ryan

Whatchu Listening To?

Every dawn is new. Every smile is the first. And every loud noise is the neighbor.

I love dreaming. ...And I love waking up. Every today is the only one. I don't know if this is the case with you, but each morning I rise with a song in my head. Not in the rear of my head, adding faint background music to my adjusting retinas, but unapologetically committing itself to being today's most prominent theme song.


I imagine I spend a fortune acquiring new tracks in the midnight hours from an exclusive itunes store accessible only to the lovers, dreamers, and me. As soon as I rub the morning blindness from my eyes, some internal jukebox kicks in, and I'm warming up to a tune coming through my wireless, weightless, totally stylish invisible headphones – for men.


I throw on some clothes, thank the morning california sun for looking as good as it does, drink my weight in H2O, lead my class of one in some improvised dancefloor aerobics - all the while, the song of the day is jammin' away. On repeat. All day. This aural gift could quickly turn nightmarish should the playlist suddenly shift to that old Christmastime With Kenny G & Creed collaboration, but lucky for me, my soul seems to carry only the greatest songs in its collection.


The best part is I don't have to think about the song or how to apply it to what's happening right now, it does all that on its own. Days have a heightened feeling of magic and meaning, as the dots are connected for me. Ben Folds sings "I am the luckiest" in tune with my savoring a delicious breakfast, a smile from a girl passing by on her bike, an awesome night sky, holding the guitar that loves to go wherever I go... Wow, I really AM the luckiest!


Today's song was "When In Rome" by Nickel Creek, wryly reminding the importance of staying true to you, to not give in just for the sake of fitting in. My computer screen even offered me the question earlier, "Is This True To You?" I sometimes worry that I stray or wander too far and wide in search of the sound of my own song, but today reminded me there is nothing to wonder about, that there are no set dimensions for the box I choose or choose not to pigeonhole myself within. Perhaps my life fort prefers to be boxless altogether.


It's a fun game to be on a bus, on the street, in a line of people at the post office, picking a person and guessing the song they're tuning into today. If you're getting too good at it with the crowds where you are, come to Los Angeles and you'll have a blast. I swear there are people dialing into inner radio stations that I couldn't even begin to comprehend, where the visible world re-emerges as something almost kaleidoscopic.
I'll have what she's hearing!

To sleep, I drift.
Grateful for every time I get to wake up with a song.


zZzzryan

The Spot(less) Heard Round The World

Proud to announce that my new album SPOTLESS is off exploring the world-outside-my-mind. It's having a blast!

See for yourself some of the awesome adventures these songs have had so far:

Thanks to all of you who've been showing Spotless around your town, around your car, your friend's car, your bedroom, your ear canal, your planet. You are the best listeners and tour guides in the universe. I am so grateful that you exist, and that you are so amazing at it.

If you're not out exploring right now, I encourage you to take a trip over to the brand new Ryan Dilmore website, where the new album is available for purchase if you or your friends haven't grabbed it yet!

I better go introduce these songs to the best post-midnight snack ever.

Seriously, thank you for allowing me to keep up this incredible... dream, life

Ryan Dilmore .com